RetailNissan price cuts, weaker yen raise fear of U.S. discount war 2:25 pm U.S. ET | June 17, 2013  Nissan's take-no-prisoners approach to gaining U.S. market share has the auto industry worried that a price war is brewing that will erode the profit progress made since the recession ravaged auto sales.... Read More »
Campbell Ewald CEO Bill Ludwig to leave agency, report says 3:39 pm U.S. ET | June 17, 2013  Bill Ludwig, CEO at longtime Detroit ad agency Campbell Ewald, is stepping down after more than 30 years at the company, executives familiar with the matter said. The agency is expected to tap an internal successor in a matter of weeks.... Read More »
Chrysler helps Doner rebuild after loss of Mazda ad account 3:38 pm U.S. ET | June 17, 2013  Advertising agency Doner has regrouped since losing a $150 million Mazda account in June 2010 to a consortium of WPP Group agencies in California. Revenue lost from the Mazda business has been more than replaced with money from other clients, including retail dealer campaigns and individual brand work for Chrysler Group.... Read More »
Automakers pressed to sell no-emission cars to reluctant buyers 2:48 pm U.S. ET | June 17, 2013  Automakers are coming under increasing pressure to sell zero-emission vehicles to consumers in the United States who haven't shown much interest in them, with more states following California's lead in setting sales targets.... Read More »
BEST PRACTICES Austin dealer is the biggest show in town 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013  Since instituting one-price selling, First Texas Honda has jumped from 380th among Honda dealerships in terms of sales volume to the top 30, and from selling 200 new and used vehicles a month to 450.... Read More »
Dealer O.C. Welch's big-truck turnaround 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013  After Mercury's demise, South Carolina Ford-Lincoln dealer O.C. Welch had to find a way to replace lost revenue. He decided to load up on Super Duty pickups – and sell them online. It was a wise bet for this lifelong Ford guy, whose 80-hour workweeks allow him to reveal plenty of trademark traits. Among them, keeping an office on the sales floor, personally selling hundreds of vehicles a year, crusading for America and, lately, stamping out crime.... Read More »
Ford pushes new models over rental sales in Europe revivalJune 17, 2013 10:34 CET  Ford is counting on new models such as the EcoSport small SUV to help reduce reliance on low-margin sales to rental-car companies in Europe in the battle to stem losses in the region.... Read More »
Apple's bid to crack the center stack 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013  Last week Apple executive Eddy Cue said 12 car brands will let motorists link iPhones to center consoles to make calls, send text messages, use maps and issue voice commands. So Apple is poised to invade the cockpit and take over the center stack, right?... Read More »
Mitsubishi ad campaign takes on 2 vital missions 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013  Mitsubishi's new ad campaign to launch its redesigned 2014 Outlander crossover -- built around the tag line "Find your own lane" -- also will have to help the brand find a route back to relevance in the U.S. market. The campaign includes national cable TV, a return to network prime time for the first time since 2005, and the brand's largest-ever digital advertising expenditure, says Francine Harsini, director of advertising for Mitsubishi Motors North America.... Read More »
Toyota's U.S. aces now run the Americas 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013  North America and South America are radically different markets. But Toyota Motor Corp. has installed two familiar names from the United States to lead them.... Read More »
Jaguar's global sales rose 63% in MayJune 17, 2013 13:42 CET  Global sales of Jaguar cars rose 63 percent to 7,061 last month, helping to offset a 6 percent fall in Land Rover deliveries. Boosted by the success of the new Jaguar F-Type, combined sales at the Jaguar Land Rover unit rose 4 percent, Tata said.... Read More »
NICK GIBBS Batteries pose tough transport challenges 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013  The fragility -- and dangers -- of lithium ion batteries for electric cars came up again at our recent Congress in Paris when DHL's head of automotive logistics pointed out the difficulties of transporting them.... Read More »
KEITH CRAIN Big Brother is watching 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013  I am constantly amazed by how much bureaucracy dealers face running what used to be called small businesses.... Read More »
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Public awareness helps fight fraud 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013 Far too many times fraud takes place undetected for long periods. Then when it is discovered, minimal action is taken.... Read More »
Lentz: Toyota may never match '09 share 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013  Toyota may never recapture the 17.0 percent share of the U.S. light-vehicle market that it achieved in 2009, Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota North America, told reporters before the company's annual shareholders meeting.... Read More »
Another low-wattage week for EVs 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013 Chalk it up as another rough week on the electric vehicle front.... Read More »
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Bravo to Chrysler's quality chief 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013 The Q&A with Chrysler's Doug Betts was interesting, but what caught my attention was his citing a "roughly 60 percent improvement in warranty rates."... Read More »
GM poised to leap out of 'lease hole' 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013  For nearly two years, GM dealers have been suffering through a shortage of off-lease customers. That's because leasing by GM dealers all but dried up in late 2008, amid the financial crisis, and didn't resume in earnest until mid-2010. Three years later, those first post-crash lessees are returning to Cadillac, Buick-GMC and Chevrolet showrooms.... Read More »
Jaguar goes with edgy ads to tout new F-Type 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013  Rather than its traditional touting of genteel luxury and British roots, Jaguar is taking a walk on the wild side with the marketing of the new F-Type convertible. For the predominantly digital and TV campaign, Jaguar is partnering with celebrities and publications that it says are hip rather than haughty -- and not British.... Read More »
DAVID BARKHOLZ Like race for MVP, call centers pit old school, modernists 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013  When we asked readers last month whether the business development center is obsolete, you'd have thought we had asked something as monumental as who should be Major League Baseball's MVP. Traditionalists argued for the BDC, reasoning that golden-tongued showroom stars couldn't use that magic on the phone or Internet. Modernists said no.... Read More »
Toyota limits online warranties 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013  Until a month ago, Acton Toyota of Littleton had a nice little side business for five years selling Toyota-sponsored extended service contracts over the Internet. Toyota Financial Services, though, pulled the plug on the business in May, prohibiting Acton Toyota and a handful of other dealerships from selling the contracts nationally online.... Read More »
Stocks dip after strong May sales 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013 Light-vehicle stocks became leaner last month, falling to a 57-day supply on June 1 from 63 days on May 1. It was the first time inventories have fallen since the start of the year.... Read More »
Certified-used Leafs coming -- but at what price? 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013  Two years after Nissan started selling the Leaf electric vehicle, Nissan is puzzling over a new question: how to sell the car when it comes back used. Nissan hasn't offered the Leaf through its certified-used program because there weren't enough cars returning. But with the first two- and three-year leases starting to expire, Nissan plans to add the Leaf to its certified-used program this summer.... Read More »
Global ambitions fuel Cadillac's advertising shift 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013 General Motors' decision to shift Cadillac's advertising account to the newly formed ad agency Rogue last week was fueled in part by the automaker's aggressive overseas growth plan for its luxury brand and a desire to strike a more emotional chord with customers.... Read More »
Those nonrecalled Jeeps are too old to move wholesale prices 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013 The vehicles are just too old. That's why the dispute between Chrysler Group and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over whether to recall 1993-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokees and 2002-07 Jeep Libertys is having no impact on the wholesale prices of those vehicles, dealers and used-vehicle price experts say.... Read More »
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Special Report
 Dealer O.C. Welch's big-truck turnaroundAfter Mercury's demise, South Carolina Ford-Lincoln dealer O.C. Welch had to find a way to replace lost revenue. He decided to load up on Super Duty pickups – and sell them online. Mon., June 17» Watch the Video |
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